


These things happen to other people

by tetracontakaidigon



Category: Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
Genre: F/F, most of the other major characters are at least name dropped, sorry not sorry that everything is femslash and nothing hurts, yuletide is a season of charity right? be charitable and forgive me my femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 01:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2795198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tetracontakaidigon/pseuds/tetracontakaidigon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They don't happen at all, in fact. (She's An Angel, They Might Be Giants, 1986, Bar/None Records.)</p><p>For Yuletide 2014, for Angie13. I hope my OCs aren't too egregious, and that you have a happy Yuletide!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jack and Diane//“life goes on/even after the thrill of living is gone”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angie13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angie13/gifts).



Bella was in the OASIS when she saw the news about the Hunt ending, and about IOI's head executive Sorrento going into the federal court system Of course she was; she'd been on the OASIS for pretty much every important event of her life thus far, and there was no reason for this to be an exception. She'd been following the news about the Hunt, of course, but her mother had insisted she focus on her studies while in the OASIS. “You're so close to graduation. Why ruin what you have?” The words echoed bitterly in her ears. She'd wanted to go fight with the gunters, but this paper had refused to finish itself, and it was the only thing standing between her and high school graduation. So she went offline for a few hours, so she could concentrate, and when she came back it was all over. Someone else had won the Hunt, and Anorak's fortune, and she was beginning to doubt the educational system would lead her to anything nearly as good. She drowned her sorrows in a PvP zone for a while, but it was impossible to be sad for too long – the right people had won, hadn't they? Besides, most of the people good at PvP had died in the battle. 

Bella was in the OASIS again, a few months later, when she got the news that her mother had been laid off. Sure, her mom worked for IOI, and Bella had been following the news of IOI's court battles probably more than the next person. She'd watched IOI desperately try to liquidate their assets to hire the best lawyers they could while the legal battle dragged on. She'd read the press release on the gunter news sites, where the commenters cackled with glee about the Sixers being out of work now and forever. But it wasn't right, her mother wasn't one of them, she was just a network administrator. Her and all her coworkers, an entire floor's worth of network administrators, had to clear out their offices and leave, stop whatever they were working on. Not that they'd been working on much – for the past few months, standard operations had been on hold while they awaited orders from on high. But Sorrento was too busy speaking only to his lawyer to head up IOI properly, so they'd waited. The writing had been on the wall, really, her mother told her, breaking the news. Bella knew as well as anyone that work for hundreds of people wouldn't just appear in their community. Everyone she'd gone to elementary school with had had a parent working for IOI – that was the way it was in their town. Without that... well, she hadn't done too well in economics, but it seemed obvious that it wasn't going to be pretty.

A couple weeks after her mother stopped going into the office, and started spending more and more time in the OASIS, ostensibly looking for work, rendering of Bella's world slowed to a crawl, then stopped entirely, as she was kicked onto a login screen. Bella and her mother were forced to look at each other face-to-face for the first time in days. Her mother shook her head blearily.

“Nobody's been tending the machines. If they'd still let me in....” Her voice trailed off. She shrugged, then went back to her OASIS headset. “It should restart itself, eventually. Normally we'd be called in for this. Now, all we can do is wait.”

A few moments later, their router stopped blinking, and the OASIS was back. Bella spoke her passphrase (“it's no better to be safe than sorry”), and as she faded back into the world, the last image she saw was her mother, holding a pair of haptic gloves helplessly, looking at her with bloodshot eyes. 

The next day, her mother stopped her as she was about to log into the OASIS and begin another idle day of summer. 

“Bella, love, I'm sorry.” Bella froze. “I don't know how we can afford to keep the OASIS link through IOI and the power. I can't find work in the OASIS anyway – all my skills are for physical networks. Everyone's skilled at networks, since...” 

“Since you were all fired.” Bella kept her voice steady. It wasn't her mother's fault that IOI had been downsizing.

“To tell the truth, I'm not sure the OASIS is really for me anyway.” Her mother looked weary, suddenly much, much older than she had seemed before. Bella wondered that they could be related, that this person could be so close to her and yet understand so little of how the OASIS was critical to every part of her life. “I'm far from the first to defend my former employer, but having IOI on my resume is enough to kill any job prospects I might have, as far as some people are concerned. And you don't really need it for school anymore.” Her mother looked more defeated than she'd ever seen her. 

Bella kept silent, and began to think. She'd have to think of something, if she wanted her life to go back to normal. “I'm going for a walk.” She got up, and walked to the door, and her mother didn't stop her. 

Bella tried to look at the trees and grass, but the grass was sparse and the trees not terribly verdant, not nearly as nice as the ones in the OASIS, and she wasn't sure after a while why she was bothering. She kicked one of them, experimentally. It did nothing for her. She remembered an article she'd read a few weeks ago - “Parzival reaffirms commitment to an open OASIS for all.” It didn't seem fair that he, who now had ultimate OASIS access, could say something like that. After all, where did broad pronouncements leave her, her mother, her childhood friends and their parents? She wished she could shake sense into him. Then, she thought about it. Really, what was there to stop her? She was done with school. Her mother wouldn't have to support her. She had no job, no real ties to any home except the OASIS. She probably had enough savings from an ill-fated summer job or two to get a bus ticket away. That was all she really needed. Job prospects couldn't be worse anywhere else than a town full of out-of-work network engineers, could they? 

Out of habit, she gestured in a way that would have brought up her messages, had she been logged in. Nothing. She cursed, and walked back home. She had to pack a few things, her computer, her gear, so she could head to the internet cafe and book a ticket. 

When she got home, her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a newspaper, circling classified ads. Bella was shocked that her mother had managed to find a newspaper, first of all. Then, a quiet resolve settled over her. She had to make this work, for her mother if not just for her. 

“Mom. I'm going to travel. I'm not sure when I'll be back. I'm going to look for work.” 

“Yes, dear,” her mother said, making another circle on the paper. 

“I'm taking a bus. Maybe to Oregon.” 

Her mother looked up. “Stay safe. Call me.” 

Bella was going to scoff, and then she realized – without the OASIS, there would be no easy way for them to keep in touch. “Yes, mom.” She turned away from the table, to leave the room and gather her things. When she returned, carrying a backpack, she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, and walked out, ready to begin her new life.


	2. Don't Stop Believing//“strangers, waiting”

After a stop at the internet cafe to log onto the OASIS long enough to buy a bus ticket, Bella began to realize the traveling life wasn't quite as glamorous as she had imagined. She'd usually had enough credits in the OASIS to get anywhere she needed to, but she couldn't get credits in the real world by killing monsters, and so she was going to have some trouble procuring money. She'd had enough for a bus ticket, which came with OASIS access. She hoped that would be everything she needed. 

The bus station was almost deserted. Despite the late afternoon sunlight shining in through the large windows, it still somehow managed to look utilitarian. There was another girl there, alone, about her age. She was slight, with dark hair, and was carrying a large backpack. Bella immediately felt a kinship with her in a way that only people waiting for mass transit together can feel. She sat down a couple seats away, and quickly realized that there was no way to connect to the OASIS in the station. After a couple minutes of staring at the windows and at the arrivals board, she caved, and turned towards the girl.

“Where are you headed?” 

The girl smiled wanly at her. “Oregon.” She paused for a moment, looking away, then looked back at Bella. “You?” 

“Also Oregon, I guess. Seems like we'll be traveling companions, for now at least.” It didn't seem like she was getting off to a good start with this stranger, which didn't bode well for their future together as the only two people on the bus out of town. 

“You guess? You're not sure?” The question was asked lightly, but with a hidden edge.

“Well, it's not like I have any other options. You can't stay here with every single hope you have shattered, and so on.” 

To Bella's surprise, the girl's smile became a little more genuine at that. “Are you sure it isn't just that a vacation is all you ever wanted?” 

“All I know is, I'll be gone in a day or two.” Bella couldn't help but smile – she loved Take on Me, for all its falsetto. “That is, if this bus ever arrives.” 

As if on cue, a bus pulled into one of the large parking spots in front of them. Bella picked up her bag, grabbing her ticket from one of the outer pockets, and saw that the other girl was doing the same. They both began walking towards the empty bus. 

Bella looked over at her. “Hey, what's your name?” 

“Angela.” She looked surprised that Bella had asked. 

“I'm Bella. Nice to meet you.” Bella gestured for Angela to enter the bus first, then followed her up the steps, picking a seat in the same row, opposite her. They both immediately began setting up their laptops with the in-bus OASIS access. 

Once Bella was logged in, she enabled her location, and scanned for nearby OASIS users who also had location enabled. To her surprise, she found someone. They went by Nephil, and wore a female, muscular, dark blue skin with coverings that left little to the imagination. Tentatively, she sent a message - “angela?” 

The response was quick. “speaking.” 

Bella shrugged. To each their own. She went by Belladonna_xx in the OASIS, and was currently dressed for combat, with enchanted armor that fully covered her and a laser gun. That didn't make her any better of a warrior, of course; it was just personal choice, and she could easily have chosen enchanted armor that was less modest. “you up for some pvp?”

“sure thing.” 

Halfway through their first battle, the bus jerked into motion, surprising Bella. It allowed Angela to get a critical advantage against her, eventually leading to victory. Bella was surprised by how closely matched they were. “best 2 of 3?” 

“actually, i have a better idea. join me in this chat room...” A link to a private space, hosted by Angela, followed the message. Bella hesitated, then decided to switch out some of the more expensive items in her inventory and go. After all, she could handle herself in the OASIS, and it was going to be a long ride with nothing to keep her occupied otherwise. Besides, her interest had been piqued by this stranger and her appreciation of 80s references.

Bella didn't regret her choice. The virtual room that she entered had a large television screen on the wall she was facing. A set of two-player arcade machines lined both sides of the room. Shelves full of DVDs, pulp science fiction magazines, and D&D rulebooks flanked the door, which was behind her. There were several large chairs around a table in the center of the room. The whole thing was painted with a vaguely “cosmic” motif, and blacklights were the only lights on, although a lamp near the bookshelves hinted that there might be light available to read by if necessary. Nephil's skin glowed under the blacklight in swirling patterns, light blue against her dark blue skin. 

“This is amazing.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Nephil rolled her eyes. “You ever played anything two-player? I mean, for real, both players at the same time, both real people. We could try Double Dragon, to start. It's co-op, so I won't grind you to dust quite as fast as if we were competing.” 

“You think I can't handle arcade games? Challenge accepted!” Bella had played the games before – of course she had – but only casually. Still, it was something to do, and they were pretty fun. 

It turned out that Angela was an excellent arcade gamer – something about her owning an entire room of virtual arcade games probably should have tipped Bella off to this – but Bella was a marginally better trash talker, and the time until the bus reached their first rest stop flew by. When she took off the haptic gloves at the rest stop, she was surprised to see that a few other people had gotten on the bus at other local stops in the mean time. It had felt like they were the only two people there, or at least the only two that mattered. Bella had a ticket for another bus, leading to yet another, eventually landing her in Portland (which was, she reasoned, the right state, and therefore close enough to start with) after three and a half days and five bus transfers. She wondered how many of the transfers Angela would take with her. After a brief breath of fresh air, the bus got going again. Bella looked over at Angela, who was fiddling with the straps on her gloves. 

“What brings you to this bus with me, anyway?” 

Angela seemed surprised that Bella had asked. “Oh, you know, the usual.” 

“Not really. I'm here because my hometown went to shit when IOI fired everyone who lived there.” Bella shrugged. “That's the way it goes, sometimes, I guess.”

“I know the feeling. I had just graduated, and was going to start working at IOI... it didn't work out.” Angela's look darkened. “So I bought a ticket for as far away as I could get.” 

“Where'd you graduate from?” Bella was curious to hear about how Angela had managed to get a job. Even if the job hadn't worked out, having an offer made it seem like she was higher on the totem pole than Bella was.

“Oh, you know, Ludus.” Angela waved her hand. “It doesn't matter, they're all the same anyway. Let's get back to the games.” 

Bella didn't want to push her luck with a friendship that was still so fragile, especially with the alternative prospect of a lonely bus ride ahead of her. “All right.”


	3. Once In A Lifetime//“and you may ask yourself/how did I get here?”

By the time Bella was rocked to sleep by the motion of the bus, it felt like she and Angela had known each other forever. They talked mostly about their favorite shows, movies, albums, games – all of it from the 1980s. Bella felt fairly confident that Angela was a fellow gunter, although they'd never discussed it directly. It was strange that she'd taken a job with IOI, but then again... her mother had taken work with IOI too, and she hadn't been doing evil things like the Sixers had. And Angela clearly didn't have a Sixer avatar. Maybe she just needed the money. Whatever the reason – and it didn't seem to matter much, anyway – Bella found herself eager to talk to Angela more, to get to know her better. 

The next morning, it turned out that sleeping on a bus didn't do wonders for Bella's sense of cleanliness. Angela had a small container of hand sanitizer, which helped a little, but there was a definite feeling that she had become one with the bus seat. So it was a surprise when Angela moved into the seat directly next to Bella.

“The bus is going to get more crowded as we get closer to major cities. I figured, better the devil you know....” Angela didn't seem to mind, so maybe Bella wasn't as grimy as she felt. Or maybe Angela was just resigned to it. 

They played more games, and chatted more. Bella was careful to avoid the topic of their travel. Why talk about bad things when there were so many great things to talk about? They watched the entirety of Tron, and laughed their way through Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and it turned out that Angela was transferring onto the same bus as Bella, on both that day and the next day, and when Bella fell asleep on Angela's shoulder on the new bus, even though it was the middle of the day, Angela didn't seem to mind at all. 

Later that night, Bella and Angela were playing a fierce game of Joust. After Angela beat Bella yet again, although by a narrower margin this time, her avatar turned towards Bella's as they were still next to each other at the arcade cabinet. 

“What's going on? Are you ready for a—” 

She was intercepted by a kiss. “I couldn't stop myself anymore. I'm sorry. I'll...” Angela's voice trailed off as her avatar dematerialized from the room. Bella could faintly hear her packing her bag in the seat next to her. Barely pausing to log out, she tore off her headset so she could see Angela in the physical world.

“Wait, don't leave.” Bella took Angela's hand. 

“Really?” Angela looked pale. 

“Really.” Bella leaned in to kiss Angela. 

Angela pulled away. “I'm sorry, I can't, I shouldn't.”

“What's wrong?”

“I haven't been honest. You don't know anything about who I really am.” 

“So tell me.” Bella tried to look into Angela's eyes, but Angela looked down and avoided her gaze.

“I didn't actually graduate this year. It's been a few years.”

“I don't mind! We're still not that different in age.” Bella looked at her, realizing fully that her feelings had crystallized over the past day into something much more than friendship, that she had abandoned all pretense when leaning in for a kiss that might never come but that she now knew she desperately wanted. “We can make this work.” 

“I don't think we can. You don't know me.” 

“I like everything I know. Tell me. What is it?”

Angela, still looking down, began to speak. “I graduated a few years ago, and worked for IOI. I thought I could damage them from within, but everyone I knew working there were good people, just trying to get by, and I couldn't bring myself to hurt them. Then, not too long after the Jade Key was found, I was called into my boss's office. My boss's boss was there too. He told me that I had been promoted. They were giving me special assignments. He told me, it was a wonderful opportunity, should I choose to accept. If I didn't accept... they could find someone else, and another opportunity to work for IOI might not come by so easily again. I was supporting my parents with my job. They didn't really understand the OASIS, and they were getting older when it became big, anyway, so when their jobs disappeared they just went into retirement. 

“I thought it was a great opportunity to get close enough in to do some damage. Then he told me, we're putting you on this because we trust you. The last person assigned to this job wasn't trustworthy. Things didn't work out so well for him. I asked what happened. He told me to look up a name. 

“I looked up the name. He'd died, along with his family, when their trailer blew up. Authorities had written it off as a gas leak. 

“I didn't want to work for IOI as an assassin, but I don't really have any other options. It was me or them. I think you know who lives in Oregon as well as I do.”

Bella gaped at Angela, who had gone quiet. “You can't. You aren't.”

“The life insurance payout will take care of my parents if I can't get through his security. But I'm sure Parzival would be honored to meet someone who's such a big fan of the Hunt, and of everything he's done. I'm sure you know, Joust is such a tricky game.”


	4. Total Eclipse Of The Heart//“I don't know what to do/I'm always in the dark”

Kissing Angela had become the last thing on Bella's mind. “You can't kill someone.”

“It's me or him.” 

“There has to be another way. I mean. I can't let you do this.” 

“You can't stop me, either.” 

Their conversation had started to turn heads, as the bus slowed to a stop and people began to rouse themselves. They were outside a bus station, probably somewhere in Colorado for all Bella knew. She hastily lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Look, I'm not a fan of everything he does either, but please don't do this.”

“I've made my choice. You can make yours.” With that, Angela picked up her bag, and walked out of the bus and into the station. 

Bella slowly gathered her things. There didn't seem to be much she could do, stuck in what turned out to be Denver, but she couldn't bring herself to get on the same bus as Angela. What would be the point, anyway? Her dreams of getting an audience with Parzival were clearly half-baked, especially if he'd be dead by the time she got there. She walked down the road from the bus depot until she found a cafe with slow OASIS access, and began to compose an email.

To: Parzival

Subject: Danger, Will Robinson

Message text:

I know this is going to seem strange, but please hear me out. Your life is in danger. I met someone who works for IOI. She was hired as an assassin. You are her target. She could be a valuable source of information... please don't kill her. Please respond to me as quickly as possible; I have information about her that could be valuable.

Bella pressed send on the message, and waited for a moment. She didn't have to wait long before her email pinged back at her.

To: Belladonna_xx

Subject: AUTO-REPLY: Danger, Will Robinson

Message text:

I am not responding to unknown emails at this time. I might read your message when I return, but probably not. If you're a spammer, don't expect a response.

Bella was pretty sure her bus had left the station, and Angela with it. She wrote another email. 

To: Aech, Art3mis, Shoto

Subject: Parzival is in danger

...and he's not responding to my messages, but I thought you might care. There's an IOI assassin out for him, and probably you too. I know she has valuable information for the case against Sorrento, and should be captured alive. Please get in contact with me as soon as possible, I have information that can be used to find her. 

With that, she sighed, and began using her limited remaining time in the OASIS cafe to look for somewhere for her to stay the night, ideally with OASIS access but more importantly with a shower. By the time she found a motel within her shoestring budget, she was about to get kicked out of the cafe. There had been no response from any of the other three, but then again, there hadn't been the non-response of Parzival either. She was about to log out, and cede to the barista's increasingly less subtle suggestions that she either buy something or leave, when she saw a message enter her inbox. 

To: Belladonna_xx

Subject: Re: Parzival

Why should I trust you? -Aech

 

Bella sighed, and bought a cookie and a cup of coffee from the barista. 

To: Aech

Subject: You can trust me

Message text: 

My name is Bella, and I know the assassin is real because she broke my heart (though not before beating me at Joust a couple dozen times). She said she was doing it because IOI was threatening her and her family. Her name is Angela. She goes by Nephil. 

I know this isn't particularly solid evidence, especially since if you look me up you'll find that up until recently IOI had sway over my life too, but since they laid off about half my town I'm pretty ready to destroy them.

I want a free and open OASIS more than anyone, but if we can't afford the IOI Internet fees, and if they're not paying to maintain it, and since there's no alternative... I don't know what I can do. 

I don't know what I can really do at all, except ask for you to trust me. Please.

 

Bella wasn't sure if her hands were shaking from the emotional content of the message or from the coffee she'd been drinking. After reading it over one last time, she sent the message out. 

While she was eating the cookie, a response came. 

To: Belladonna_xx

Subject: I'll take a chance on you 

Message text:

I'll trust you, if only because of my own weaknesses - I doubt someone would fake a lesbian backstory in such detail. (Also because I can access enough of the OASIS to look up Nephil – she's an IOI employee, all right.)  
Get to the Denver airport. We want to meet with you in person, to discuss our options and get more information.   
-Aech


	5. Owner of a Lonely Heart//“you're every move you make”

The private plane that Aech sent was unimaginably lavish to the eyes of someone who had just spent two days on a bus. It still had no shower, but Bella did what she could to freshen up, once she'd managed to tear herself away from the incredible view of land from above. The mountains were beautiful. The desert was beautiful. The cities were beautiful. Even the tall stacks of trailers at the outskirts of the cities seemed beautiful, when viewed from afar through a small window. 

It was only a few hours before she arrived at Ogden Morrow's home. If the stacks had seemed beautiful, it was due to the distance, but the magical aura did not fade as she disembarked the plane. It was the first time she'd really felt as if outside, not in the OASIS, was somewhere worth being. 

Before she could make it down all of the steps, a woman wearing a Kevlar vest stopped her. “We're going to have to search you and your bags as a security precaution. I'm sure you understand, we can't be too careful, given recent developments.” 

The search took place within the plane to provide some semblance of privacy, at least when compared to the outdoors. (“I'm afraid we can't let you in until we've searched you,” the woman had said, using the royal plural despite the lack of any other guards in Bella's view.) It was brusque, but painless. When the guard was convinced that Bella posed no threat, she let her leave the plane, saying something Bella couldn't quite make out into a radio at her belt. The house now seemed marginally less wonderful, her idealized mental image of it scarred by the reality of the situation. 

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the large wooden front door, and was about to pick up the knocker when it swung open. Bella tensed, unsure of what or whom to expect. She'd watched replays of the OASIS footage of the Hunt's endgame shortly after it had happened, along with the rest of the world that paid any attention whatsoever to news, so she'd thought she'd known more or less what Parzival, Art3mis, Shoto, and Aech had looked like. (Everyone hid minor things like acne in their avatars. Powerful warriors and mages didn't have skin conditions, as a general rule.) The person who opened the door for Bella didn't look anything like any of them. She was the same height as Bella – Art3mis would have been taller, but maybe that was a trick of the OASIS. The thing was, Art3mis had an avatar with verisimilitude. You could tell that Art3mis looked very much like a person in real life looked. And there were so many differences between this person and that avatar that they couldn't be the same. Skin color, for one. 

The confusion must have been apparent on her face, as she heard laughter from within the house. An older man stepped out of the shadows behind the door, still chuckling, and then cleared his throat and began to speak. 

“If you'll excuse me.... you must be Bella?”

Bella nodded, uncertain of her voice.

“I'm Ogden Morrow – call me Og – and this is Aech.” 

Aech frowned at him. “You always ruin the surprise.” 

“Well, the alternative would be to have you presumed to be a housekeeper. Would you really prefer that?” Og seemed genuinely concerned. “Anyway, we can discuss this later. Bella, why don't you come in, and we can get each other up to speed on everything that's been happening.”

Og led Bella into the house, down a long and richly carpeted hallway, and up a spiral staircase. They ended up in what appeared to be a conference room. A young man was waiting there, seated at a long table – she recognized him as Shoto instantly. Apparently her studies of the battle hadn't been completely useless.

The three of them entered the room. Aech closed the door behind them. Bella looked around the conference room, choosing a seat at one side of the table, near but not at the end of it. 

Bella continued looking around the room as Aech chose a seat next to Shoto and Og sat at the head of the table. “Where's Parzival? Where's Art3mis?”

Shoto and Aech exchanged glances. Og started to say “They couldn't make it,” but at the same time Aech began saying “Parzival's too busy being a-” and Shoto interrupted her with “He'll eventually see reason, no need to be rude.” Bella stared at them blankly in the resulting cacophony. Og started to speak again. 

“If everyone's done?”

Aech and Shoto looked sheepishly at Og.

“Well, that's something we need to discuss.” 

Bella felt prickling worry down her spine. Parzival and the others had seemed untouchable. They'd always acted as if they were in public, at least. Seeing their private divisions and their flawed humanity was disconcerting. 

Og, seeing Bella's expression, tried to comfort her. “Don't worry, he's not dead.”

“We think.” Aech, ignoring Og's and Shoto's dismayed looks, barreled on. “Tl;dr, Parzival and Art3mis broke up, and ever since, they won't speak to each other or any of us. He whined about the places they fell in love being too painful, and left the OASIS and this house in a huff. She won't leave her room or respond to any messages either.” Aech rolled her eyes dramatically at this. “Leaving us three to pick up the pieces. I mean, at least anyone coming here to kill him is out of luck.” At her last sentence, Shoto went pale. “Sorry, S.” 

Og spoke again, contemplatively. “Tell us, Bella. The person you messaged Aech about. Where did she say she was going, and why?” 

“Angela said that she'd wanted to work for IOI so that she could sabotage them. But after she'd seen what they'd done to the families of people who crossed them, she was forced into this job instead. She said she was going to pretend to be honored to meet him – she had all the right skills and trivia to impress him – and when she got close enough...” 

“So why not just kill her, then? I'm tired of taking revenge on the Sixers. I want my friends to stay alive in the first place.” Shoto was still pale, but his face showed a grim determination. 

Og shook his head. “We can't stoop to their level. It sounds like, if we could tip the scales the right way, she'd be back on our side. My lawyers have been looking for more dirt on Sorrento, anyway – their sources have a habit of dying before they can testify.”

Aech spoke up. “There's just one problem. There's nothing we can do to stop IOI from hiring another Angela. We need to change the culture – tip the scales for everyone. Make life better for those in IOI's shadow. And people are going to figure out that Parzival isn't here if we try to do anything without him. The only messages he's looking for are from Art3mis, and she won't respond to any of us. I think she's afraid we'll take his side.” 

Bella saw her chance. “Where is she? I'll talk to her.”

Aech shrugged. “Well, we might as well try it. Og can lead you to her room, he's the only one she'll get near.”


	6. It's The End Of The World As We Know It//“it's time I had some time alone”

Bella pounded on the door of the room. If she could get this right, she could help her mother, and Angela, and everyone in their town. She'd been traveling for days to get here, and she wasn't going to be stopped by anything as small as a door.

A faint voice came through the door. “Go away, Aech. I already told you I'm not interested in talking to you.” Music, faint in the background, became louder too. Bella thought she recognized the singing – “shooting through the walls of heartache” came through clearly. 

She continued knocking. “I'm not Aech, but nice try. Not Shoto, either.” 

The music went quiet. “Who are you?” 

“We haven't met. I need to talk to you – lives are at stake.” It sounded cheesy even to Bella when she said it, but a moment later, the door swung open, and Art3mis stood before her.

“Come in. Who are you? Who's going to die?” The room was a mess, but Art3mis didn't seem to mind, throwing clothes off of a chair onto a pile on the floor and gesturing for Bella to sit. 

Bella turned the chair so it was facing the bed, where Art3mis was, and then sat down. “My name is Bella. Hopefully nobody's going to die, but I need your help. Parzival-” 

Art3mis interrupted. “I'm tired of Parzival. All anyone ever wants to hear is why did we break up, why don't I get back together with him. If they listened to themselves, they'd have the answer. All they want to hear about is him. I just want some fucking agency!” 

“Is staying in here your idea of agency?” 

“At least in here, I have some control over who asks me dumb questions.” Art3mis shot a glare at her. “Anyway, get to the point.”

“Parzival is going to be killed unless we can get the upper hand over IOI. We need to convince the assassin to turn sides by preventing IOI from having power over her. To do that, we need to get Parzival back here, so you guys, the ones with all the money and fame, can work together to stop IOI. And you're the only one who can do that.” 

“Do you really think, after what I just said, that I want to hear about how powerful he is, and how he's necessary to do any sort of announcement? You're wasting my time. Get out.” 

“What, so you can mope in here while IOI tears more people's lives apart? You can stop this. It's not just Parzival's life. Under IOI's disrepair, the OASIS is falling apart. Is that really what you want? Even if you don't do it for him, you can help people. My family. Angela's.” 

“I'll think about it. Now leave.” 

Bella walked to the door. She wanted to say something witty, but there was nothing she could do to make Art3mis listen. She followed the halls back to Og, who, seeing the look of despair on her face, didn't ask how it went. Instead, he led her to a room for her to rest in. 

 

The next morning, after a blissful shower, Bella wandered through the halls of Og's mansion, looking for another human being. Eventually, she found her way to the kitchen, where Og, Aech, and Shoto were eating cereal. They welcomed her to join them, and she was just choosing between having a bowl of the Nintendo Cereal System and Rice Chex (with America Online CD and Chex Quest included) when there was a knock at the door. Everyone sat in shock, not moving to open the door. Luckily, the door opened without their intervention, and Art3mis entered the room. 

“Pass me a bowl, will you?” she asked, then continued, looking at Bella. “I thought about what you said, and sent Parzival a message last night. He'll says he'll be here today. You're right, it doesn't matter what happened between me and him, what matters is the greater good. We can put aside our differences and try one more time to fix things.” 

Aech handed Art3mis a cup of coffee and a cereal bowl. “For what it's worth, I think Parzival was being an ass about you. I mean, overall, not just this instance. He's my friend, so I can say things like that.” 

The door, which had been left open when Art3mis entered, closed behind Parzival. “Thanks, Aech, it means a lot to me.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, glad you're not dead, dude. Guess stupidity isn't terminal. Have some cereal.” 

Parzival sat down next to Art3mis. He looked bedraggled, and like he hadn't been sleeping much, but otherwise he was pretty much the same as he'd appeared on screen. There was an awkward silence for a moment, but then conversation started up again between Aech and Og, and Art3mis joined in, and soon everything was a scene of domestic bliss. Bella sat silently, taking it all in, eating her cereal and hoping for Angela's and her own sake that things were going to work out. 

After the meal was over, Og clapped his hands. “We've got business to talk. Bella, I'll set you up with the OASIS, I'm sure you'll be wanting it. Everyone else, let's adjourn to the conference room.” 

As she followed Og to a room with state-of-the-art haptic equipment, Bella was confused. “Sorry, dear, but they'll probably be wanting to pretend they came to the solution all by themselves. All I can do is maintain the fiction.” He winked, and left her in the room.


	7. Blue Monday//“tell me now, how should I feel”

After a few hours of messing around, completing daily OASIS tasks that she'd been neglecting in her travels, destroying whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the nearest PvP zone, and generally avoiding thinking about how she'd felt about Angela, Bella received an instant message.

“check this –aech” followed by a link to a post made minutes before on a major news site. Bella clicked the link, and read the article. 

WATCH NOW: ART3MIS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO INVEST IN OASIS INFRASTRUCTURE

A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY comes from the enigmatic woman behind so much of the success of the gamer Parzival (link to bio) at solving Halliday's Easter Egg Hunt (prior coverage at our site here). Transcript follows:

“We know that, for many, the OASIS is critical to their work and home lives. Furthermore, it has recently come to our attention that IOI has been neglecting their promises to connect all at top speed to the OASIS. Therefore, we're announcing that we will be strategically investing in small business owners worldwide who plan to maintain the fiber optic networks that IOI is selling off and provide links to homes and businesses at low cost, regardless of prior affiliation with IOI. For more information, please visit our website. The OASIS should be free to everyone, and we'd like to demonstrate our commitment to that. Thank you for listening.” 

 

Bella was about to forward the announcement to her mother when she realized that her mother wouldn't be able to see it through the OASIS anymore. Instead, she typed back to Aech, “nice!” and went back to studiously avoiding her feelings. 

“there's something else though, I think I should let you know” 

Bella stared blankly at the chat window as another message appeared.

“we've reached out to nephil, she's agreed to speak out about IOI on the condition that she and her family receive sanctuary. We've sent people to secure her parents, but she's located nearby, so we're offering her a room here so she can speak to our lawyers once we determine she's no longer a threat.” 

Bella's heart stopped. “thanks for letting me know” she slowly typed back. Then, “anything else?”

“nah that's all”

Bella logged off, and decided to go for another walk.

 

The hedge maze in Og's yard was impressive, but she managed to solve it without too much trouble. Once she'd reached the center, she sat down on the bench there. The sky was clear and blue above her, the hedges a vibrant green. Again, it did nothing for her; her mind was on other things. 

She hadn't been wearing immersive OASIS gear when Angela had kissed her; it hadn't felt like anything on her lips, since only her gloves were touch immersive and “haptic” in the true sense of the word. It had felt pretty much the same as doing anything else in the OASIS, in that respect. But the thing about the OASIS was that it transcended physical limitations; it could make you feel things that had no basis in your physical reality. Even if you didn't want to feel them, even if it was easier not to, she thought ruefully. 

There was a rustling behind her. Someone else was solving the maze. She didn't hear them talking to anyone, so she guessed it was just one person. She looked up, and saw a flash of dark hair through the tops of the hedges. A moment later, Angela walked up to her, looking away shyly. She sat down on the bench next to Bella. 

“I'm sorry that I left you like that. I just wanted to keep my family safe.” Angela trailed off, looking down. “You found another way. Thank you.” 

“Don't thank me yet. Thank me when it's over.” Bella was guarded. 

“You could have saved my life.” Angela said plainly. “You set me free.” 

Bella looked up at Angela as she spoke.

“As someone once told me, 'we can make this work.'” 

This time, the kiss felt more real than anything Bella could have imagined. 

 

Epilogue: Just Like Heaven//“I'll run away with you”

Bella picked up the phone, dialed a familiar number. “Mom, have you checked the news today? There's something you might want to hear about... oh, I'm fine. I made it to Oregon. It's beautiful here, I'm really happy....”

**Author's Note:**

> "Nephil" being singular of "nephilim." More or less, an evil angel - "one who has fallen" or possibly "one who causes others to fall" says Wikipedia. 
> 
> PS: I'm sorry that I didn't realize "Angie" in your username was probably short for Angela until way too late to change it.


End file.
